Being Complete
by KaT aka Mistress Shinigami
Summary: ZMxLN 6x9 Set during the battle at Antarctica. "She believed in what he did, and she felt totally, utterly complete only when being at his side..." Happy little story set before Zechs and Heero battle, read and review!


A/N: I watched the episode of the battle at Antarctica the other day, and I got to wondering if Noin and Zechs had talked about what was going to happen at all. I wanted them to have had a meeting the night before, so I wrote one! Please, please, please read and review! I appreciate it!

Disclaimer: I own not the Gundams, nor the Gundam pilots, nor anything to do with Gundam Wing at all. All I own is this beat-up laptop. I'd gladly trade it for the rights to GW. Let the bidding begin!

Being Complete

Noin paced the small room, chewing her bottom lip, anxious and restless. She turned at one end of the room, and after taking what seemed like only one step in the small, box-like room, she was at the other end and thus had to turn again. It was making her rather dizzy.

Her mind was racing fast, and if her heart had been calmer she might've been able to make sense of the situation. As it was, her thoughts tumbled violently as she tried futilely to find a solution to the matter of the duel between the 01 pilot, Heero Yuy, and her own Lieutenant Zechs.

Both of them needed to live, of that she felt a strange certitude. And even more certain than that knowledge was the unwavering loyalty she carried for Zechs. The Lightning Count (she had to admit, she smiled with a hint of pride and happiness whenever she'd heard a rumor of his escapades while she taught the Academy) had a very strong sense of honor, especially in regards to the Gundam pilots. She believed in what he did, and she felt totally, utterly complete only when being at his side, helping him.

While she hadn't talked to her longtime Oz friend about his feelings, she understood him better than he knew himself. His weakness with the Tallgeese, the inability to risk his life even when faced with the revenge of his fallen kingdom—these all made him feel unworthy of his weighty Peacecraft name. He was fascinated by the Gundam pilots who were so willing to face death if it meant defending the colonies.

Noin fiddled with the buttons of her uniform jacket, suddenly feeling suffocated. She shrugged it off her slender shoulders, folding it neatly over the back of a little chair. She plopped hard into the chair, kicking off her boots with some effort. A glance at the clock on the wall revealed it to be two a.m. The battle was set to begin in the morning, and Noin had not slept a wink, and she most certainly hadn't derived a way to end the battle without any deaths.

She sighed, resting her elbows on her knees and burying her hands in her cropped raven hair. She tugged against the roots, clenching her teeth together, making the muscles in her jaw jump.

'Get ahold of yourself,' she thought, 'If you could just clear your head and be calm, the answer would come, I know it!'

There was a knock at the door. She knew who it would be.

"Zechs," she said warmly, stepping aside and allowing him to walk by her.

"Noin," he returned the greeting in his soft, deep voice. He walked to the middle of her box-room, looking to her bed with the sheets tucked-in and made. He lifted his silver helmet from his head, turning his intense stare to the young woman.

It was rare that he removed his helmet, even if it was just the two of them. She knew better than to question him and instead allowed herself to be the support he would never admit he needed.

"Zechs, you should get some sleep before your battle tomorrow."

He just continued to look at her steadily, and suddenly she understood.

Back when they had attended Lake Victoria Academy together, Zechs and Noin had spent much of their free-time with one another. They were leaps and bounds above the other cadets, so they fell into a quick friendship. While they didn't share all the same ideals, they were both intelligent, thoughtful students, much different from the majority of soldiers being trained at Lake Victoria. Time outside class was spent studying together or doing physical training.

However, being a teen boy with the weight of an entire kingdom on his shoulders left Zechs in a state of constant restlessness, plagued by sleepless nights…

…until he made a discovery late one night while his intelligent companion was with him, studying for an exam.

They had been sitting on Zechs's bed, scanning notes and textbooks and quizzing one another. Zechs took a particularly long time looking for a question for Noin, when he felt a soft weight fall onto his shoulder. Turning his head, he saw his friend had silently dozed off to sleep. Her weight against his side was so soft and warm, and he could feel her ribs slowly expand and contract as she took deep, even breaths.

He had smiled slightly, and moved to wake her when he slowly noticed his tense body begin to relax. His breathing slowed to match the pace of Noin's and his eyelids grew so very heavy…

Ever since this discovery, Zechs and Noin held a tacit agreement. When his quest for revenge pressed on him too hard, and the ghosts of his slaughtered family cried to loudly in his ears, he would allow himself the comfort of sleeping in Noin's bed.

As Noin stood staring at her best friend in the dim light of her room in the middle of this frozen tundra, she knew that's what he needed now. Silently, she moved to pull back the covers on her bed, hearing him sit on the same chair she had to remove his own boots.

They slid into the bed at the same time. They were quiet, but not awkward or uncomfortable. There was an unspoken way things went when Zechs needed the silent comfort of sharing her bed. They never talked about, and by the time Noin woke up in the morning, he was always gone.

Zechs settled onto his back, one arm stretched above his head, bent under the pillow. Noin scooted up next to him, laying on her side facing him. She gently pressed up against his side, and the warmth of their bodies felt wonderful in contrast to the constant bone-chilling cold of Antarctica. She pushed the tip of her nose gently against his shoulder and allowed her eyes to fall shut.

"Thank you…Noin," Zechs said softly, letting out a deep breath. It felt like he'd been holding in that breath since he'd reached Antarctica. Together, their overwrought minds and bodies melted into a peaceful comfort.

Her only reply was to press her nose more firmly into his shoulder.

When she was by his side giving him her support…that was when she finally felt complete.

A/N: :happy sigh: Just a little bit of happy Zechs + Noin comfort and fluff. To be honest, the idea for this story came to me after spending a month apart from my boyfriend of two years. I started thinking about how comforting it is to have someone you love sleeping next to you.

So, what do you think?? Please, please, please review! I haven't written GW in so long, input would make me so very happy! :puppy-dog eyes:


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